knowledge

1. General: Human faculty resulting from interpreted information; understanding that germinates from combination of data, information, experience, and individual interpretation. Variously defined as, "Things that are held to be true in a given context and that drive us to action if there were no impediments" (Andre Boudreau). "Capacity to act" (Karl Sweiby). "Justified true belief that increases an entity's capacity for effective action" (Nonaka and Takeuchi). "The perception of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas" (John Locke). In an organizational context, knowledge is the sum of what is known and resides in the intelligence and the competence of people.

In recent years, knowledge has come to be recognized as a factor of production (see knowledge capital) in its own right, and distinct from labor.